This Poison Heart, by Kalynn Bayron

[sophia_sol]

This is Bayron's second book, and I think she's definitely grown as an author since her first, which is always nice to see. This book isn't exactly to my taste (contemporary setting, and does a lot of the stuff that has become a standard part of the modern YA genre which doesn't speak to me), but it's overall a good one for people who DO like those things, I think!

I do have some specific complaints though, beyond just "not my thing."

1. It ends on a cliffhanger, which I always feel is kind of a cheap way to end a book. A book can lead into sequels while still properly ending the book in question!!

2. The Greek myth content felt tacked on rather than actually integral to the story being told, and so every time it came up I was rolling my eyes more and more.

3. I was super appreciating the presence of an important inter-gender platonic friendship, which is sadly rare in fiction, and then it turned out the dude was helping out the main villain! And the lead character has NO other friends except the love interest. Let friendships exist in a positive way :(

Comments

[silverflight8]

Oh my god that reminds me I did not write my review of Cinderella is Dead and unfortunately I absolutely hated it. I should post mine.

I hear you on the eyeroll quotient. Ahhh

[sophia_sol]

Oh my gosh YEAH I couldn't stand Cinderella is Dead even though I got why other people were so into it. But I just could not with that book!

[silverflight8]

You inspired me and I put my (somewhat annoyed) review here lol https://silverflight8.dreamwidth.org/202367.html

It could have been a good novel!!!!

[sophia_sol]

your review is so satisfying to read, really digging into all the many ways the book failed, thank you for linking it and I'm so glad you posted it!

[lirazel]

A book can lead into sequels while still properly ending the book in question!!

Agreed! It's one thing to end an episode of TV on a cliffhanger and know you're going to get the conclusion next week. (Or at least that's how it worked in the days of yore.) But with a book you have to wait at least a year! That's just not nice to your readers!

Re: no friendships: UGH!

[sophia_sol]

EXACTLY!!!!!!

[glitteryv]

I've heard so-so reviews abt this book and, tbh, not much of the premise appealed to me to begin with. Tho I'd somehow missed that this was the same author of Cinderalla is Dead (which had gotten, per what I've seen, middle-of-the-road-to-good reviews.)

One thing I've slowly begun to realize is that a ton of YA books really aren't my thing anymore. Something of a sad realization after a long time of enjoying that genre. It doesn't help that, ime, a lot of YA books have really interesting premises.

As for the cliffhanger in this book, ehhh, given that it's Book 1 in a series, I don't think it'd have bothered me a lot? Though I certainly would've been upset (to actual pissed off) if the novel had been a standalone. YMMV, obvs.

[sophia_sol]

Yeah, I'm with you on many YA books not being my thing as much anymore, which is really too bad! I think for me it's a combo of the trends in the genre moving in a direction I don't care for as much, and my tastes changing as I get older.

I do get that for a lot of people, a cliffhanger ending isn't a problem as long as it will be addressed eventually, but I am a terribly impatient person! waiting the entire publishing cycle for a sequel novel is a long, long time. And I just feel like, in my opinions about the ~art~ of a novel, you should feel satisfied when you reach the end of a book, instead of feeling like you've been cut off from completing any narrative arc.